Hofstra Invitational - "D" Bracket
Hofstra Invitational - "D" Consolation Bracket

Hempstead, NY - The Wagner men's tennis team concluded play at the 2016 Hofstra Invitational, which was a two-day event spanning from September 23 and September 24. At the end of the tournament, the Seahawks captured a total of three singles titles, the "A" title, won by sophomore Anatoliy Lashkul (Kiev, Ukraine/High School #78), the "D" singles crown, won by junior Allen Wang (Clovis, CA/Buchanan) and the "C" Consolation title, captured by newcomer Siddharth Anand (New Delhi, India/Modern School BBarakhamba Road).

"The level at this tournament was very high, and the guys played a lot of matches and posted fantastic results," commented second-year head coach Jason Sinkoff. "Every week, the team is growing and improving with each game."

"A" Bracket:
Sophomores Lashkul and Dale Sandy (Durban, South Africa/Kersney College Secondary School) represented the Green & White in "A" Bracket on the singles side. 

Junior Charlton Boyd (Shreveport, LA/Loyola College Prep) and sophomore Ilya Kneppelhout (Woubrugge, Netherlands/Scala College Secondary School) joined Lashkul/Sandy in the "A" Doubles competition. Lashkul earned his first collegiate singles title, capturing the "A" Bracket title, defeating Hofstra's Marcus Smith, 9-8 (7-5) in a thrilling final match.

Lashkul raced past Saint Peter's Ivan Knezevic (8-3) in the Round of 16 followed by a Round of 8 win over Jacob Whalley of Fairleigh Dickinson (8-5). In the semifinals, Lashkul advanced by default over NYIT's Matej Selecky in setting up a final against Marcus Smith, who defeated Stony Brook's Raphael Termat in the other semifinals match. Sandy fell in the Round of 16 to FDU's Gonzalo Quintana, 9-8 (7-4).

Watch The Championship Point Here (video courtest of Wagner tennis junior, Charlton Boyd)

Lashkul was paired with Sandy while Boyd and Ilya Kneppelhout teamed up in the "A" Doubles.  Lashkul/Sandy defeated the Yeshiva University duo of David Papis Elon and Adam Rosemblaum, 8-2. The two advanced to the semifinals before falling to the NYIT tandem of Matje Selecky/Jorge Gonzales Soler, 6-4.  

Boyd/Kneppelhout, however, were edged by the FDU combo of Jacob Whalley/Gonzalo Quintana, 8-6. 

"A" Consolation:
Sandy defeated Saint Peter's Ivan Knezevic in the Round of 8 of the "A" Consolation and was ousted in the semis by Stony Brook's Rodrigo Hadlich, 8-5. Boyd/Kneppelhout would also advance to the semifinals after earning an 8-5 victory over Gabriel Mendez and Lucas Martinez of Queens College.  The Hofstra pair of Marcuse Smith and Jan Leithner defeated the Seahawks combo en route to winning the "A" Consolation doubles crown. 

"B" Bracket:
Sophomore Eric Poland (Fort Meyers, FL/Bishop Verot) and Kneppelhout represented Wagner in the "B" Bracket of the tournament. Poland earned an 8-1 victory over Saint Peter's Douglas Nover while Kneppelhout was blanked by Fairleigh Dickinson's Danilo Vukotic, 8-0. The Fort Meyers, FL native Poland was victorious in the Round of 8, defeating Stony Brook's Tyler Hoffman, 8-5, to advance to the semifinals. There, he would face his second opponent from Stony Brook, Samuel Taieb, and was defeated 8-5. 

In doubles action, Poland and newcomer Siddharth Anand (New Delhi, India/Modern School BBarakhamba Road) joined freshman Hans Ohrner (Margate, FL/Coral Springs Christian Academy) and junior Allen Wang (Clovis, CA/Buchanan) in the event. Poland/Anand picked up an 8-6 win over Adam Chan and Vukotic of FDU. Ohrner/Wang fell by the same score to Queens College's Camilo Arias/Miguel Bendito. Poland/Anand continued their run, defeating Yeshiva's Mikey Ozery/Eitan Rudansky, 8-1. The run concluded in the semifinals as Queens' Colleges Jubera/Toscano edged the Seahawks duo, 6-3 en route to winning the doubles title. 

"B" Consolation:
Kneppelhout defeated Jonathan Paredes (Saint Peter's) 8-4 in singles play and dropped a tough, 9-7 decision to Ruben Morhain (Stony Brook) in the semifinals. Ohrner/Wang advanced to the semifinals after picking up an 8-6 victory over the Adelphi team of Roey Heymann and Connor Dove. The host Hofstra combo of Nick Silvestri and Zachary Chang closed out Ohrner & Wang' chase, 8-6, in the semifinals.

"C" Bracket:

Boyd drew the "play-in" match against Adelphi's David De Veccia and picked up an 8-4 win. Boyd dropped an 8-5 decision to NYIT's Rafal Navas. Anand fell to FDU's Pedro Carvalho, 8-3, in his first singles tournament match of the two-day event. 

"C" Consolation:

Wagner earned its second singles title of the two-day Hofstra Invitational. After Boyd was defeated by a narrow, 9-7, margin, the first-year Seahawk, Anand, clinched the "C" consolation title. Anand beat Dove (Adelphi) by default to move on to the semifinals. He would pick up another victory over Adelphi, an 8-1 win over De Veccia.  In the championship round, Anand got past Stony Brook's Richie Agarwal, 8-6. 

"D" Bracket:

In the final tournament for Wagner, the Seahawks managed to pick up its third singles crown. Ohrner and Wang each picked up wins in the Round of 16. Ohrner couldn't advance out of the Round of 8, falling to Queens' Nicholas Volos, 9-7. Wang, however, got past Adam Chan (FDU) 8-6. In the semifinals, the Clovis, CA native defeated Stony Brook's Justin Park, 8-6, to advance to the championship round, where he met NYIT's Jamie Salvador.  In the finale, Wang was able to muster out an 8-6 triumph, for the third title of the event.

The Seahawks return home on October 1 as they welcome the Northern Kentucky University Norse for a 10:00 a.m. matchup.

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